New-TechEurope Magazine | November 2017 | Digital Edition

Going the distance: LoRa + BLE makes it possible for IoT to go nearly anywhere geographically Jonathan Kaye, Laird

IoT networks that utilize low-power Bluetooth Low Energy (aka BLE and previously marketed as Bluetooth Smart) can be deployed in nearly any physical space, given its small footprint and energy-miser architecture—which enable small wireless sensors and controls to operate on a battery charge for years. Those benefits of BLE allow these small devices to be placed into the nooks and crannies that were unfeasible with prior generations of wired and wireless devices. But until now, in order to get the data transmitted via BLE out to a cloud server, all those nooks and crannies needed to be in very specific geographic locations where traditional telecom infrastructure was available in the form of Wi-Fi connectivity or cell coverage. In 2017, you would think that telecom infrastructure is ubiquitous, but the reality is that there are huge swaths of the map where telecom connectivity is minimal or nonexistent. Readers of EP&T can see that firsthand if they venture

outside the metro areas of major cities like Toronto and Vancouver. It doesn’t take long for the bars on your phone to start shrinking and other connectivity to disappear as well. LoRa transfers data, communications with IoT networks IoT has depended on fiber and cell infrastructure as the conduit for data that is sent to and from wireless sensor networks, which has limited the geographic reach of IoT as a result. But there is a great big world out there where IoT networks could be used for things like equipment monitoring, environmental monitoring, scientific measurement, industrial controls and much more— if only there were a way to send and receive data in the absence of traditional telecom infrastructure (or as an alternative to expensive cell charges in remote areas.

The solution to this geographic conundrum involves marrying BLE short-range technology with a new long-range, ultra-low power technology that provides the data relay over very long distances. LoRa, often referred to as a LPWAN (Low-Power Wide Area Network), provides secure, bi-directional data transfer and communications with IoT networks over long distances for years without a battery change. It can send and receive signals up to 15km, and that distance can extend to hundreds of kilometers with additional gateways if needed. By combining BLE with the ultra-long range and low-energy capabilities of LoRa, companies no longer have to limit their enterprise IoT (EIoT) deployments to a specific geographic location, regardless of whether there are cell towers, utility poles or underground fiber anywhere on the horizon.

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